Marcus Partners, a Boston-based real estate private equity firm, wanted to invest more in the South a few years ago. But the timing didn’t feel right, given the saturation of investment and construction activity here post-Covid.
“We remained patient,” said Andrew Dolinsky, partner at the firm. “Then the right time felt like the middle of last year.”
Dolinsky is based in Washington, D.C., but Marcus Partners recently planted a flag in Atlanta by hiring Casey Barber, formerly a senior vice president of investments at RPM Living. Barber works out of the Industrious office at 999 Peachtree St. NE in Midtown.
Marcus Partners is launching an $875 million fund, first announced in March, that will pour capital into assets across the East Coast. Dolinsky and Barber estimated that more than one-third of the fund will be spent in the South.
The firm has already purchased three properties in the Atlanta area: Riverside Parc Apartments, a 280-unit complex located within South Fulton’s vast industrial corridor, for $44.8 million in February 2026; Creekside Distribution Center, a 538,500-square-foot warehouse in East Point, for $49 million in December 2025; and the Maddux at Shadowood, a 287-unit apartment complex in Cumberland, for $87.6 million in May 2025.
The goal is to buy quality properties below replacement cost. There is a value-add component as well, with Creekside Distribution Center serving as a good example. Pods Moving & Storage and Walmart already lease much of the space there, but the rest is empty and ready for a new tenant that desires industrial space inside the Perimeter.
Marcus Partners focuses its attention on multifamily and industrial investments, having exited the office market before the pandemic. Dolinsky and Barber said they “feel fortunate to be in the position we’re in” as they ramp up operations in the Atlanta office. Expect deals in Georgia, North Carolina and beyond.
Brand Properties takes on new assignments, shifts leadership
What do The Works, the Exchange at Gwinnett and Vinings Jubilee have in common?
They’re all locally owned shopping malls represented by Brand Properties, an Atlanta-based real estate firm with offices in Duluth and Buckhead. And the former two are recent additions to Brand Properties’ leasing portfolio, which has expanded by approximately 500,000 square feet since the beginning of 2025 with another half-million expected before 2027.
Brian Smith is shepherding the retail growth from Brand Properties’ Duluth office, which focuses on retail, office and mixed-use management. (The Buckhead office focuses on multifamily development projects.) Smith was recently hired as president of Brands Properties’ management, leasing and advisory practices following more than four years as executive vice president at the company.
Smith recently attended the popular Las Vegas conference run by ICSC, or the International Council of Shopping Centers, and came away heartened by the interest from national restaurant chains and other companies in Atlanta.
“Atlanta is a darling for retail,” he said.
Brand Properties manages approximately 5 million square feet of commercial real estate, about 20% of which is office space with most everything else retail. The development side of the business has 14 projects underway and is known for
the 2827 Peachtree project it co-developed in Buckhead several years ago. That six-story office building recently attracted Clark’s Steakhouse as a ground-floor tenant.
A Brand Properties spokesperson also told Atlanta Business Chronicle that the company has expanded its C-suite by hiring Lynn Lewis as chief operating officer and promoting Shannon Lasswell as chief strategy officer.
Lewis worked for 18 years at Hines, then spent less than two years at Cushman & Wakefield as senior managing director of assets services before establishing her own firm in June 2024. That company, Lunar Real Estate Group, “focused on helping small to mid-sized companies and family offices maximize the value of their real estate holdings,” according to LinkedIn.
Lasswell’s expertise is finance and operations; Brand has tasked her with “developing and executing long-term growth strategies,” the company said.
TSCG hires new president as industry changes ‘fast’
Another heavyweight retail real estate company has shuffled its leadership.
Atlanta-based TSCG has hired Nichole Popovics as president of the company, the company announced. She succeeds Sam Latone in the role, who is transitioning to co-chair while maintaining his position as co-CEO alongside David Birnbrey. The move passes the baton to a new generation – “a deliberate choice to build for what comes next while the company is at its strongest,” the company said.
“Retail real estate is changing faster than at any point in my career: the tenant mix, the formats, the way decisions get made,” Popovics said in a statement. “What excites me about this role is the chance to make sure TSCG is not just keeping pace with that change but helping to shape it.”
Popovics, who previously lived in Tampa, Florida, will relocate to Atlanta to work from TSCG’s headquarters. She also attended ICSC in Vegas, where she pitched retailers on the TSCG’s leasing portfolio of more than 61 million square feet.
Dunwoody office deals are flowing
The city of Dunwoody announced a few office leasing wins recently.
CM Mission Critical Engineering LLC, which was founded in 2024 in Dunwoody with just three employees, now employs more than 40 engineering professionals, according to a LinkedIn post from the city. It will open a 24,000-square-foot office at the Terraces campus near Perimeter Mall as it seeks to grow even more, according to the city.
“This speaks to the strength of Dunwoody as a magnet for innovation and talent,” the city’s post said.
The lease follows Choate Construction’s announcement that it has leased about 57,000 square feet at Terraces for 200 workers. The city of Dunwoody also said that Total Quality Logistics has leased a 20,000-square-foot office at Sterling Pointe and will bring 100 employees.
Story first published in Atlanta Business Chronicle